A History of Our Faith-Based Mission

And so it all began…

The Connecticut General Assembly grants a charter “To provide a home for aged and destitute Protestant women in New Haven giving special attention to such as are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.” Fundraising is initiated for a home.

The Methodist Church Home opens in a house at 111 Elm Street in West Haven, CT.

The management of the home, known as the West Haven Home, is delegated to a Board of Directors composed of women from the 80 Methodist churches within central Connecticut.

A second house at 115 Elm Street is purchased and the two houses are connected by a newly-constructed dining room and an infirmary. The “Family” of residents then numbers fifteen women and five men.

Several miles across the state, The Methodist Home of Danbury, referred to as the Danbury Home, opens in a remodeled wooden house on Main Street. The Board of Managers draws members from every Methodist church in western Connecticut and nearby New York.

The West Haven Home opens the Blackeslee Memorial Dormitory, a brick structure adding rooms for twenty more residents.

The West Haven Home is “singled out for its exceptional lack of institutionalism” by the U.S. Commerce Department, and described in a U.S. Public Health Service report as one of the “homeyist homes” in the state.

The Danbury Home builds a new dormitory known as the Martha Crossman Rhoades Memorial, increasing its capacity to 34 residents.

New state building codes require extensive changes to the West Haven and Danbury Homes. Bishop Lloyd Wicke appoints a committee to oversee the building of a retirement community within the N.Y. Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Bishop Wicke Health and Rehabilitation Center opens a new pavilion funded by the West Haven Home, adding 30 beds. The West Haven Home closes and all residents transfer to either Wesley Heights or Bishop Wicke.

Asbury Ridge, with 162 cottages for retirement living, opens adjacent to Wesley Heights. Asbury Ridge is transferred to a private corporation in 1986 and renamed The Views of Long Hill.

The Council of Friends of United Methodist Homes is formed as a means for volunteers and churches to enhance the quality of life for residents Wesley Village and other UMH facilities, continuing a tradition of support begun by the United Methodist auxiliaries of the Danbury and West Haven Homes.

United Methodist Homes launches a capital campaign for an assisted living residence.